Cracked

Cracked.com is a humor website, founded in 2007 by Jack O'Brien and currently a property under Demand Media. The Cracked site includes a blog, videos, forums, a writer's workshop, four weekly Image Manipulation contests called Photoplasty, and small, one-shot articles called "Quick Fixes." Cracked formerly included a daily "Craptions" contest where users added captions to odd photographs; this feature has been relegated to the forums. The site includes columns by Sean "Seanbaby" Reiley, Daniel O'Brien, Robert Brockway, Cody Johnston, Soren Bowie, Chris Bucholz, host and writer of the web series Hate by Numbers Gladstone, John Cheese, Christina Hsu, and head writer and performer of the sketch comedy group "Those Aren't Muskets!" Michael Swaim.

Although Cracked is owned by Demand Media, it is not a content farm. Instead, the site functions as a "virtual writer's room," where more than 2,500 amateurs pitch articles to which other users provide feedback. According to General Manager Oren Katzeff, "Nothing gets on the homepage without heavy editing," [writers] "pitch the site's on-staff editorial team, who give out assignment and feedback to writers after an idea is greenlit." O'Brien and five other editors pick and refine the best material. More than 90% of the stories on the top spot of Cracked's homepage come from the virtual writer's room. Cracked is known for its popular listicles, which include titles like "The 6 Most Insane People To Ever Run For President" and "7 Basic Things You Won't Believe You're All Doing Wrong."

Recommended Reviews

Once one of my favorite sites to navigate, learn useless trivia, and waste hours on - Cracked has gradually descended into clickbait, heavy politicized liberal slam pieces, and generally has grown more and more akin to Buzzfeed in recent years.

The interesting thing is that although initially a counterculture media organization much like Vice, it like Vice itself has sold itself out to the highest bidder with heavily biased and/or uninformative and uninteresting listicles.

Cracked is a hilarious way to waste some time. And the best part is that you'll often actually learn something while you do! Their lists are a great format, and unlike a lot of other sites, you don't have to click through a million pages to read them: most are just split in half onto two pages.

Another great thing for the writers out there: Cracked accepts submissions! It can be tough to get your article through the rigorous editing process, but if you do, not only do you get to be internet-famous, but you also get cold hard cash!

What happens when you provide high quality content combined with a click-based monetization?

Click-bait mecca.

There is no doubt that the site is funny and occasionally thought provoking.

But the articles are intentionally split up so that you have to read the first third, click to the middle third, and then to the final third (or in some cases, 30 or more clicks to consume all the content in a single list).

Not only that, but the pages are COVERED in ads.

The UI is annoying to the point of making you wonder: "is this good content really worth it?"

I use a chrome extension to cobble together the articles into a single page, but even then it is wearying to see so many ads.

Content-wise, the best articles are typically well sourced, interesting and funny. However, it does have more than the occasional accuracy problems. When anyone can make and submit an article for money, accuracy and calmness will not rise to the top consistently.

It is the sort of site that makes you think "If I visit this site more often, it just encourages the fuckers".

A heavily biased so-called "news" resource - HuffPo is hypocritical in nearly every possible aspect. It preaches equality and diversity, and yet it's boardroom is nearly completely composed of white women. It claims to be strongly for diversity, and yet it practices no diversity of thought whatso...